Vengeance Is Mine
by J. B. Tilton
Summary: The prime suspect in a series of prostitute murders in 1997 is released from prison and 2 months later the murders begin again.
1. Chapter 1

COLD CASE

Vengeance Is Mine

By J. B. Tilton (a.k.a. NoAzMale) and Teri Thibeault (a.k.a. Tessalynne)

Emails:

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Rating: K+

* * *

Disclaimer: "Cold Case" and all related characters and events are the property of Jerry Bruckheimer and the CBS Corporation, except for those characters specifically created for this story. This is a work of fan fiction and no infringement of copyright is intended.

* * *

(Authors' note: This story takes place between season 1 episodes "Churchgoing People" and "The Runner".)

* * *

The prime suspect in a series of prostitute murders in 1997 is released from prison and 2 months later the murders begin again.

* * *

PROLOGUE

July 11, 1997, 11:04 p.m.

Detective Jeremy Collins showed his badge to the uniformed officer and then proceeded past the police tape to the people who were busily working the scene. He recognized one of the uniformed officers. Sergeant Moran and he had been friends for a long time. He quickly approached the sergeant who looked up as he walked towards him.

"What have we got, Mike?" Collins asked.

"Another dead prostitute," replied the sergeant. "It looks like the same guy. This makes number five."

"Yeah," said Collins engrossed in thought. "Who found the body?"

"Another girl. I have one of my men taking her statement now but there's not much she can tell us. She's pretty shaken up."

"Not so surprising. Most people have never even seen a dead body let alone one in the condition these have been in." He glanced over at a man bent over a body that was covered with a blanket. "I see the doc is all ready here."

"Yeah. He's all ready made his preliminary examination. They're getting ready to take the body back to the morgue for the autopsy. Just waiting for the wagon to get here."

"Thanks, Mike," said Collins. "Make sure I get a copy of everything."

"Will do, Jerry."

Collins walked over to where the body was and looked down on it as the medical examiner glanced up at him. Then the examiner went back to filling out his paperwork.

"You didn't waste any time getting here," said the examiner.

"I could say the same about you," said Collins. "Moran says you've all ready finished your preliminary examination?"

"Yep. Just like the others. Blunt force trauma to the head. Multiple blows. I won't know for sure until I get her on the table but I think it's a pretty safe bet that's going to be the cause of death."

"Any weapon found?"

"No. Just like the others. Whoever did this is taking the weapon with them. Moran also said they haven't been able to find any witnesses."

"As usual," said Collins. "This guy is good. Always chooses a secluded location with no witnesses. What about the signature?"

The medical examiner pulled back the sheet to expose the body underneath. It was the body of a female that still looked to be in her teens. She had dark hair, was wearing way too much makeup, and was dressed in skimpy clothes: the usual trademark of the "working girls" in the district.

Aside from a lot of blood there didn't appear to be any injuries. That was to be expected. The killer usually attacked from behind. He knew that if he rolled the body over there would be a different story. But at the moment he was more interested in something else. He looked at the forehead of the girl. Scrawled across the forehead in red was the word "GUILTY", written with what had been identified as a felt tipped marker.

"She can't be more than 19," Collins said.

"Seventeen, according to her ID," said the examiner. "Jennifer Bryant, street name 'Cookie'. According to the drivers license she was born September 1980. And it's an Illinois driver's license. My guess is she probably hasn't been here for more than a few months."

"Another runaway most likely," said Collins. "Comes all the way to the City of Brotherly Love only to get her head smashed in by some psycho."

"There was no love involved here," said the examiner, standing up and putting his pen into his pocket. "Whoever did this had a lot of rage in them."

"Thanks, doc. Will you make sure I get a copy of the report?"

"Don't I always?" said the examiner smiling. He looked up to see "the wagon" just arriving to take the body to the coroner's office for the autopsy. "I need to get back to prep for the autopsy. I'll have a report for you first thing in the morning."

"Thanks again," said Collins.

Collins looked back down at the body. So young. And probably doing nothing more than trying to eek out a meager living the best way she knew how. No one deserved what had happened to her. And Collins made a silent vow to himself to catch the monster responsible.

* * *

ONE

October 22, 2003, 10:13 a.m.

Lilly and Nick walked up to the alley where Stillman had told them to meet him. The alley was taped off with the usual police tape and several uniforms were busy keeping a crowd of curious onlookers back. They flashed their badges and proceeded into the alley.

About halfway down the alley several people were busy examining what was obviously a crime scene. There was a body covered in a blanket next to one of the buildings and people could be seen collecting items from around the alley. A man, whom Lilly recognized as a medical examiner was busy examining the covered body while Stillman and another man dressed in a suit with a badge hanging from the breast pocket stood nearby talking. Stillman looked up and noticed them and motioned for them to join him.

"What have we got, boss?" Lilly asked glancing at the other detective and then at the body lying on the ground.

"Dead prostitute," said Stillman. "Someone beat her to death. She's been identified as Abigail Bennett a part-time secretary for one of the offices nearby." He turned to the other detective. "This is Detective Jeremy Collins. Lilly Rush and Nick Vera."

"Pleasure to meet you, even under the circumstances," said Collins.

"Bad way to go," said Nick. "Dissatisfied John?"

"That's the theory," said Stillman. "She was found early this morning by another working girl. Coroner places the preliminary time of death at between 10:00 last night and 1:00 this morning."

"So what are we doing here?" Lilly asked. "This isn't a cold case."

"No, but it's related to one," said Collins. "Actually, 5 others. Back in '97."

"I remember that," said Nick. "Five prostitutes all beaten to death between May and July. As I recall they never did find the killer. And they stopped as mysteriously as they started."

"Not so mysterious, apparently," said Stillman. "Collins was the lead detective on those cases. When he heard the call on this one he hurried right over. Apparently they're identical to the murders back then."

"And they stopped because the killer went to prison on an unrelated charge," said Collins.

"You know who did this?" Nick asked.

"His name is Jason Pettigrew," said Collins. "He was a stock broker that worked a few blocks from here. In 1997 he was convicted of vehicular homicide and sent to prison. He got out a couple of months ago."

"And you think he's the same one that did this murder?" Lilly asked.

"He has to be," said Collins. "It's the same signature."

"What signature is that?" Nick asked.

Stillman reached down and pulled the blanket back from the body on the ground. It showed a woman about 20 years of age, dressed in garish clothes, and wearing too much makeup. She was lying in a large pool of blood. Scrawled across her forehead in red was the word "GUILTY".

"That was Pettigrew's signature back in '97," said Collins. "Every one of his victims had the same thing."

"Guilty?" questioned Lilly. "Guilty of what?"

"No idea," said Collins. "Maybe he just doesn't like prostitutes. Or maybe he thought she was trying to gouge him on the price. Who knows? All I can say for sure is that every victim has the same word written on their foreheads."

"You sure this isn't a copy cat killing?" Nick asked.

"We never released the detail of the writing on the forehead to the press," said Collins. "Only the investigating officers and the killer knew about it. And it's the same handwriting as the others. No, this isn't a copy cat. It's Pettigrew back to his old tricks."

"What made you center in on Pettigrew?" Lilly asked.

"It's in the same part of town where he worked," said Pettigrew. "One of the girls we talked to said that he would come down and pick up prostitutes late at night. Probably after he got off work. And his car was seen in the area."

"Did you question him about it?" Stillman asked.

"Yes. He claimed he was heading to a bar nearby. It's owned by a college buddy of his. A Christopher Jackson. Pettigrew claimed he would stop by the bar after work for a couple of hours to drink and talk with his friend. I questioned Jackson and he backed up Pettigrew's story. I could never break his alibi."

"Maybe it's true," said Lilly. "Maybe he was at the bar. That could be why you couldn't break his alibi."

"That's what my lieutenant said," said Collins. "I questioned him several times about the murders. He eventually complained to the department that I was harassing him. My lieutenant finally said that unless I had some solid evidence to implicate him that I had to leave him alone."

"And you never had that evidence?" Lilly asked.

"Not directly, no," said Collins. "But I know it's him. He was less than cooperative. And he claimed he never used prostitutes. But I had witnesses that prove he did. Plus his car was seen in the area on at least 3 nights that the murders took place. When he went to prison the murders suddenly stopped. And like I said, he got out about 2 months ago. He's back working at his old firm and suddenly the murders have started up again. There's no doubt it's him."

"What about other suspects?" Lilly asked. "Anyone else you suspected of the murders?"

"Three others we looked at," said Collins, handing a piece of paper to Lilly. "Daniel Hildebrandt. He was a pimp back then. Two of the girls worked for him. The second was Bruno Kowalski. Small time hood that usually made his living mugging tourists and doing an occasional B & E. And there was Thomas Harrison. He had a record for picking up prostitutes and beating the hell out of them for fun. But he never killed any. And he always did it in the cheap motel rooms he rented."

"Well, if he was beating prostitutes to death he'd have gotten a lot of blood on him," said Nick. "There would probably be at least trace evidence of that blood in his car. You never found anything in his car?"

"Never got the chance to search," said Collins. "I never had enough probable cause to get a warrant. After the 4th girl was found I tailed him for a couple of weeks hoping to get something on him. Until my lieutenant told me to lay off him until and unless I got some evidence. The next night he struck again."

"A couple of weeks later he hit and killed a pedestrian on her way home from work," said Stillman. "He had been drinking and the DA charged him with vehicular homicide. He went to prison after that."

"And the murders stopped," Collins reiterated. "Now that he's out, they've started up again. We need to stop this guy before he does it again. And I'll be honest. I could use some help on this case. I've run out of leads."

"Lil, you and Nick check the old cases," said Stillman. "See if there's anything that Jerry might have missed. Anything that might give us cause for a warrant. It's possible to still find evidence even after six years."

"He still has the same car?" Nick asked.

"Yes," said Collins. "It's been parked in his garage since his conviction. But his wife won't let anyone search it. Claims he didn't kill those girls. She keeps saying I'm harassing him for no reason."

"Okay, we'll check into it," said Lilly. "Anything else you can remember that might help?"

"I'll have to check my notes. I still have them at home. I'll let you know if I come up with anything."

"Thanks," said Lilly.

"John, I'll get back to you," said Collins, looking at his watch. "I guess I'd better go check in. I still have some active case to pursue."

"Thanks, Jerry," said Stillman. "You have my number."

"He seems particularly obsessed with this case," said Lilly as Collins headed out of the alley.

"We've all got cases like that," said Stillman. "Ones that grab hold of us and just won't let go. But if he's right we have a serial killer loose on the streets. We need to get him off the streets before anyone else gets killed.

"Lil, go easy on this one. We don't want Pettigrew to think that we're persecuting him. If he is our killer we don't want him to know we're looking at him for these murders."

"Gotcha, boss," said Lilly. "Come on, Nick. Let's go see what the files on the previous murders can tell us."

Lilly and Nick headed out of the alley toward their car to see what they could find out about the original murders.


	2. Chapter 2

TWO

"Looks like it's just as Collins said," said Nick as they looked through the 5 boxes of the unsolved prostitute murders. "Five girls each murdered in the same way between May 9 and July 11, 1997. Blunt force trauma to the back of the head. And each had the word 'GUILTY' written across their foreheads in some kind of felt tip maker."

"Constance 'Candy' Sullivan, age 19, murdered on May 9," said Lilly reading from the files. "Then there was Mildred 'Savannah' Bradford, also 19, murdered on May 20. The third one was Caroline 'Sammy' Lewis, age 21, murdered on June 17."

"The fourth one was a Margaret 'Red' Jennings, age 23, on June 27," Nick continued. "It says here she went by 'Red' because of her long flowing red hair. The last one was Jennifer 'Cookie' Bryant, age 17, murdered on July 11. All were regular working girls working the same area. All were murdered between 10:00 p.m. and 1:00 a. m."

"And all with blunt force trauma to the back of the head," said Lilly. "No murder weapon was ever found. The coroner theorized it was something like a ball bat. Slivers of wood consistent with the manufacture of ball bats were found in each of the wounds."

"None of the bodies had apparently been moved," read Nick. "He apparently beat them to death and left their bodies where they fell. And no witnesses in any of the cases."

"It says here," said Lilly, "that the last victim, Bryant, was seen getting into a car at about 10:00 the night she was murdered. Another girl got worried when she didn't come back and went to look for her. Found her body at 10:32."

"No trace evidence found at any of the scenes," said Nick. "No hair, fibers, blood, other than the victims. And there were no apparent defensive wounds on the victims. Which means they didn't put up a struggle."

"Maybe they didn't have a chance," said Lilly. "They were killed from behind. Maybe they never saw the attack coming."

"And each of them with the word 'GUILTY' written across their forehead," said Nick. "Guilty of what?"

"I don't know, Nick. Maybe if we find that out we'll find out killer. But there's no indication in any of these who the killer might be. I think we should start by talking to some of the girls that work the district. Maybe someone is still around from that time. Maybe someone saw something they didn't tell the police back them."

"That's possible. Most hookers don't have a lot of incentive to talk to a cop."

"We'll just have to give them some incentive," said Lilly. "I'll check with vice. See if they can tell us of anyone who's still around who was around back then."

"I'll run the names of the other suspects," said Nick. "Collins did say he was looking at more than just Pettigrew initially. And I'm pretty sure all of our boys will be in the system."

"Good idea," said Lilly. "When you're done we'll take a ride and see if we can locate anyone who was around back then."

* * *

"You the one they call Pepper?" Lilly asked as she and Nick approached a woman standing near a building. The woman appeared to be in her mid-30s and was dressed as most prostitutes were in that part of town. A look of annoyance crossed her face as the two detectives approached her.

"I'm not doing nothing," Pepper protested. "You ain't got no right to harass me like this."

"Relax, sweetheart, we're homicide, not vice," said Nick.

"I ain't you're sweetheart," said Pepper. "You here about that girl that got killed last night, ain't you?"

"Yeah," said Lilly. "We understand you're the one who called the police about it."

"That's right. Found her lying in the alley this morning. Blood everywhere."

"What can you tell us about her?" Nick asked.

"What do you care? She's just a dead whore. Not worth your time."

"That's not true," said Lilly, glancing at Nick. "We want to find who did this to her. And we could use your help."

"Like I told those other cops this morning, I didn't really know her. She was strictly amateur. Only been on the streets a few weeks. Was still going by her real name."

"She didn't have a street name?" Nick questioned.

"Didn't I just say that? Look, you learn real quick out here not to give out your real name. You don't think my real name is Pepper, do you? There are a lot of little tricks you learn to protect yourself. She didn't know any of them. My guess: she was new."

"Did you see her out here last night?" Lilly asked.

"No. Wasn't out last night. Had a cold. That's another trick. Don't go out when you're sick. Even something as simple as a cold can be misinterpreted by your customers. Came out this morning and found her in the alley."

"What about back in '97?" Lilly asked. "We understand you were around then."

"Yeah, I been here since '95. You asking about when those girls got killed back then?"

"Yeah," said Nick. "Remember anything from back then?"

"One of my friends was killed then," said Pepper. "Cookie got picked up and I never saw her alive again. She was dead half hour later."

"You're the one who found her," said Lilly.

"That's right. Saw her get into a car. Cookie, she never took more than 10 minutes or so to take care of business. When she didn't come back I got worried. Went looking for her. Found her a little while later. Cops didn't do nothing about that one, either."

"Did you see what kind of car she got into?" Lilly asked.

"Couldn't really tell. It was too dark. And it had tinted windows. Couldn't tell who was driving it. The car pulled to the curb and the passenger door opened. Cookie got in and then it drove off. I never saw her again. Not alive, anyway."

"You can't remember anything distinguishing about the car?" Nick asked. "License plate number, decals, bumper stickers, anything at all?"

"Naw, didn't think to check the license. And it didn't have any decals or bumper stickers. But you know there was something odd."

"What was that?" Lilly asked.

"Well, I couldn't really hear what was being said. But I could tell that Cookie was surprised. Not scared surprised, just surprised. Then she said something about it not mattering to her. Everyone's money was the same. Then the door closed and the car drove off."

"What would she have been surprised about?" Nick asked Lilly.

"Who knows?" Pepper responded. "Maybe she knew the guy or something. Maybe it was an old friend she hadn't seen in a while. All I know is she didn't seem scared or upset. Like I said, the car drove off and the next thing I know, she's dead."

"Thanks, Pepper," said Lilly. He handed Pepper her card. "If you think of anything else give me a call."

"So what now?" Pepper asked. "You write up your little report and file it away? Cops didn't do nothing back then. What makes me think you're going to do something now?"

"Because I'm not those cops," said Lilly. "A person was killed last night. And five others were killed in '97. It's not my job to judge how they lived their lives. It's my job to catch the guy who's doing it. And I plan to do everything I can to see that happens."

"Why should I believe you? Ain't no cop ever give us girls a break. Like the cop that busted me last week. I wasn't even working that day. And he hauls me in. Gotta go to court next week about it."

"What was his name?" Lilly asked.

"Cooper. Vice cop."

"I'll have a talk with him," said Lilly. "You've helped us on our case, I'll see if I can help you."

"Yeah? Okay then."

"One last question," said Lilly. "Did you know any of Cookie's friends? Maybe some guy who she might have found it surprising he'd be out here?"

"Not really. She never talked much about herself. Only guy I know that she knew for sure was Hildy."

"Hildly?" Nick questioned.

"Dan Hildebrandt," Pepper replied. "She worked for him. Only he never touched the girls. Only had them out making money for him."

"Know where we can find this Hildy?" Lilly asked.

"Naw. He got hurt back in 2002. Left the streets after that. Ain't heard from him since."

"Thanks, Pepper," said Lilly. "And I'll be sure and talk to Detective Cooper."

"You really going to talk to this Cooper?" Nick asked as they walked back to their car.

"Sure," said Lilly. "Can't hurt to talk to him. Pepper said that Cookie was surprised at the guy in the car. She also said that Hildy didn't date the girls. Might have been a surprise for Cookie if he decided to date her that night."

"So why pick her up on the street?" Nick questioned. "Why not just wait until she brings him her money for the night?"

"Let's find Mr. Hildebrandt and ask him. She said he got hurt in '02. Should be able to find a hospital report on him. Might tell us where he is now."

"No need. After I ran his name through the computer I found out he was involved in a shooting in '02. Got paralyzed from the waist down. Couldn't conduct business after that."

"Then he couldn't be who killed the girl last night. Anyone in a wheelchair would have stuck out down here at night. Which also means he's probably not the killer from '97."

"Unless he's got someone else doing his dirty work for him. The report said he got into an argument with a John over one of his girls. The guy pulled out a piece and capped him twice. Could be he blames the girl for being in the wheelchair and has one of his buddies taking his revenge out on them."

"Which means he'd know about the word 'guilty' written on the girl's foreheads. And it means he could also be the doer from six years ago."

"Assuming Pettigrew isn't the doer," said Nick. "Collins seemed pretty sure he was the right guy."

"Let's go have a talk with Mr. Pettigrew," said Lilly.

Nick put the car in gear and headed off for the office where Pettigrew was currently working.


	3. Chapter 3

THREE

"Jason Pettigrew? I'm Detective Rush and this is Detective Vera with the Philadelphia police department. We'd like to talk to you."

Pettigrew's office was located on the fourth floor of the building. He was currently going through files although neither Lilly nor Nick had any idea what he was doing. It was the same company he had worked for before going to prison and Lilly was somewhat surprised they had hired him back.

"Look," said Pettigrew, "I've been good since I got out of prison. I'm not associating with any other ex-cons, I'm seeing my parole officer every week just as he instructed me, and I'm not drinking. Those were the conditions of my parole. And I've abided by them to the letter. There's no call to be harassing me like this."

"We're not harassing you," said Lilly. "We just want to have a chat with you. We're not here about your parole. That's your parole officer's business. We're here about another matter. Where were you last night between 11:00 and 1:00?"

"I worked until about 10:45, then I stopped by Chris's like I always do," replied Pettigrew. "I was there until about 12:30, then I went home. As I always do."

"I thought you said you weren't drinking?" Nick asked. "What are you doing at a bar?"

"Drinking club soda. You can check with Chris. Like I said, one of the conditions of my parole was no alcohol. So I drink club soda when I go there. Chris and I are old friends. I'm surprised you didn't know that."

"We knew that," said Lilly. "You didn't go anywhere else?"

"No. What's this all about? I told you I've been keeping my nose clean since I got out. I have no desire to go back to prison and I'm doing everything I can to make sure that I don't."

"A prostitute was murdered last night," said Lilly. "And the one who did it was using the same signature as the ones that were murdered in 1997."

"It wasn't me. Last night or back then. I told the detective back then that I had nothing to do with those murders. I don't frequent prostitutes and I have no reason to kill them. He couldn't prove it then because there's nothing to prove. And if I recall one of your lieutenants told that cop he was supposed to leave me alone until and unless he had some solid evidence on me."

"We aren't looking at you for the murders," Lilly lied. "As I said, there was another murder last night. We just thought you might have some information that might help us with our investigation."

"I don't know anything. Look, back then I was working 10, 12 hours a day. After I got off work I'd stop by Chris's just like I do now. I'd stay for an hour or two and then I'd go home. All I know about those murders was what I read in the papers. I don't know anything other than that."

"You might be surprised what someone might know that they may not realize they know," said Lilly. "Something you might have seen or heard that you didn't give a second thought to. Sometimes it takes a trained investigator to sort out the useful information from the extraneous information."

"I don't know anything," Pettigrew reiterated. "I had to drive through that section of town to get to the bar after I got off work. So, yeah, I did see some girls on the street while I was driving through. Occasionally one would approach me when I was stopped at a stoplight but like I said, I don't frequent prostitutes so I always turned them down. I'd go to the bar then I'd go home. That's it."

"Did you ever see other cars in the area?" Nick asked.

"Sometimes. I never gave them much thought. I couldn't tell you which ones they were. That was 6 years ago. That Detective Collins, I think his name was, asked me all this back then. I can't tell you anything more now than I could tell him back then. He said he knew I was the one killing those girls and he was going to prove it. But I swear to you I never hurt any of them. I never even met them."

"There are witnesses that claim you used to hire prostitutes," said Nick.

"Okay, look. One time. It was late and I was tired. My wife was off visiting her mother and I figured it wouldn't hurt. Just the one time. We went to a cheap hotel, did our business, and then I went home. I never saw her again. That was the only time."

"So you lied when you said you don't frequent hookers," said Nick.

"No, I didn't lie. I don't frequent them. I used one once. That was about 7 years ago. My wife found out and it nearly ended our marriage. But she eventually forgave me and I swore then and there that I would never hire another prostitute. And I haven't."

"Why did Collins zero in on you for the murders?" Lilly asked. "It has to be more than just your car being seen in that area. Like you said, there were other cars in that area too. So why would he think you were killing the girls over everyone else?"

"You'd have to ask him. All I know is every time there was another murder he'd be at my front door interrogating me. I finally had to file a complaint through my lawyer with the commissioner for harassment. He stopped coming after me then. But I swear I have no idea who murdered those four girls."

"Four girls?" Nick questioned. "Don't you mean five? Five girls were murdered in '97."

"Five? I didn't know about the fifth girl. He only questioned me about 4. When was the fifth girl murdered?"

"July 11th," said Lilly. "Between 10:00 and 10:30 p.m. Where were you at that time?"

"Ten o'clock? That's easy. I was getting a ticket. About six blocks from the Chris's bar. I ran a red light and got pulled over about ten after ten. I was there until nearly 10:25. You can check."

"We will," said Lilly. "So Collins never questioned you about the fifth girl's murder?"

"No. Like I said he had been given orders to stay away from me until he has dome kind of proof. I guess he didn't want to violate those orders. All I know is that about 2 weeks later I accidentally ran down that poor woman as she was crossing the street. I had just left the bar and I guess I had more to drink than thought. I never even saw that woman until after I hit her. I'm going to have to live with that for the rest of my life."

"Where exactly did you get the ticket?" Nick asked.

"I don't remember exactly what street. It was about three block north of the bar, I do remember that much. My house is north of the bar and I usually took the most direct route home. Felicia was usually waiting up for me."

"Thanks for your time," said Lilly.

"I do find it strange that your boss would give you your old job back," said Nick. "I didn't think you'd be able to get your brokers' license back after being convicted of a felony."

"I can't. My conviction prohibits me from getting a license. But my boss was very understanding. My conviction had nothing to do with my work. So I do other things that free up the stock brokers to do other things. File paperwork, fill out reports, stuff I did before. I just can't work as a stock broker."

"That's very magnanimous of your boss," said Lilly.

"Like I said, my conviction didn't have anything to do with my work. And I paid my debt to society, as they say. He felt I deserved a second chance."

"Well, thanks again for your time," said Lilly. "We'll be in touch."

"You know where you can find me," said Pettigrew going back to the files he was working on.

"What do you think?" Lilly asked as they left the building.

"We'll know more when I check on that ticket he mentioned," said Nick. "If he was issued a ticket when he claims it would mean he couldn't have murdered the fifth girl. That street he mentioned is almost two miles from where she was found. There's no way he could have traveled that far in 10 minutes."

"So we check and see if he got a ticket when he claims. If he didn't he still remains our prime suspect."

"And if he did get a ticket?"

"Then I guess we start looking at other suspects."


	4. Chapter 4

FOUR

"No, I didn't have the opportunity to question him about the fifth girl's murder," Collins said. "Like I said, my lieutenant told me to lay off Pettigrew. And other than a gut feeling I had nothing to tie him to the murders. Nothing concrete, anyway. Before I could do anything about it he got picked up on the vehicular homicide charge and was off to prison."

"Well we checked," said Nick. "No tickets issued to Jason Pettigrew that night or any other night. Which begs the question why would he lie about it? He must have known we'd check on it. How did he expect to get away with it?"

"Maybe he thought you wouldn't bother," said Will.

"I checked Hildebrandt," said Stillman. "Seems he spends most of his days at home or in the hospital from repercussions from his injury. Last night he was in the hospital with one of those repercussions. Half a dozen of the hospital personnel vouched that he was there."

"I never considered him a viable suspect," said Collins. "He never really mistreated his girls. And on at least one occasion he wasn't in town when a girl got killed. The second one I think. Mildred Bradford. Since it's obvious the same man is doing this I discounted him as a suspect as soon as I found that out."

"You're sure he was out of town?" Nick asked.

"Absolutely. Believe me I checked his alibi real close. He was definitely out of town on May 30."

"What about the others?" Lilly asked. "Kowalski and Harrison?"

"Well, Kowalski was known to frequent prostitutes. That's why I initially suspected him. He's got a sheet as long as your arm. But I could never find any evidence that he was abusive to any of them. And one of the girls alibied him for the first and third murders. I had no reason to not believe her. Harrison was another story. He enjoyed it rough. Had more than one complaint on him. Initially I thought he looked good for the murders."

"What changed your mind?" Lilly asked.

"The fourth girl, 'Red' Jennings. He was in lockup when she was killed. Coincidentally for beating up another girl. He did some time for that assault but after that he didn't look good for the killings."

"Is it possible there was more than one assailant?" Will asked.

"No evidence of that. All indications are that it was one man."

"The file says there was no sexual assault on the girls when they were murdered."

"Yeah," said Collins. "Initially that puzzled me. The first one we thought was a trick gone bad. Maybe the guy didn't want to pay or the girl didn't want to hold up her end of the transaction. That's what I thought the word 'guilty' on her forehead meant.

"When the second girl turned up I decided it had to be something else. Maybe a hatred of prostitutes. Possibly some overzealous religious nut who felt that the girls were somehow violating some religious doctrine or something. But I couldn't find any connection there, either."

"What made you center in on Pettigrew?" Lilly asked. "Other than his car was seen in the area?"

"He lied about hiring the girls. He claimed he never did but I found at least one who verified that he had. He denied it, of course. Guess he figured if he admitted to it then it would make him look guilty. Plus his was the only car seen in that area on a regular basis. Most men go down there only on occasion. He was seen in the area nearly every night. He's the only one I could place at the scene."

"Well, he did admit to hiring a prostitute once," said Nick. "Said his wife was out of town at the time. Also said it nearly cost him his marriage."

"I knew he was lying about it," said Collins. "Just another nail in his coffin. All I need is one solid piece of evidence and I can get a search warrant for his house and car. I'm sure there's something there that will connect him to all five murders. Six now, counting this latest one. I just don't have anything concrete to take to a judge."

"What about his parole officer?" Nick asked. "Can't he get a warrant to search the guy's place?"

"Not for these crimes," said Stillman. "They were committed before Pettigrew went to prison. It would be a fishing expedition and no judge is going to grant a warrant on those grounds."

"But we have another crime," said Collins. "This latest girl that was killed."

"You'd have to show some connection between her and Pettigrew," said Stillman. "So far all you have is conjecture and supposition."

"Great," said Collins. "We can't get any evidence on Pettigrew because we don't have any evidence on Pettigrew."

"Maybe not," said Lilly, "but maybe there's still a way."

"What are you thinking?" Stillman asked.

"Most parole officers have the authority to make surprise inspections on their charges to make sure they're abiding by the terms of their parole," said Lilly. "We could see if Pettigrew's PO is willing to make an inspection and let us tag along. That will get us into the house. We might be able to find something then."

"Whatever it is would have to be in plain sight," said Stillman. "It wouldn't be like having a search warrant. You wouldn't be able to look everywhere."

"It's something, boss," said Lilly. "It will also give us a chance to talk to Felicia Pettigrew, his wife. Maybe see if she knows anything."

"She's always stood behind Jason," said Collins. "Claims he could never harm a soul. Even after he went to prison she still stuck by him. I tried to convince her that he was the killer but she wouldn't even listen to me. I doubt you'll get much out of her."

"Maybe not," said Lilly. "But it's worth a shot. I'll call Pettigrew's PO and see if he'll help up."

"Detective Rush?" questioned a man wearing a suit with a badge hanging from the breast pocket. "I'm Detective Cooper. I got a call you wanted to see me about something."

"Oh, Detective Cooper, yes," said Lilly. "I'll be right back." She turned back to Cooper. "I wanted to talk to you about a working girl that goes by the name Pepper."

"Nick, why don't you call Pettigrew's PO and see if he'll give us a hand while Lil's busy with Detective Cooper," said Stillman. "Will, why don't you go have a chat with this Christopher Jackson? Pettigrew's friend who owns the bar. See if he's willing to still alibi Pettigrew for the murders in '97."

"I'll go with him," said Collins.

"I thought you were given orders to stay out of it?" Stillman questioned.

"Actually, I was ordered to stay away from Pettigrew," said Collins. "My lieutenant didn't say anything about not following up other leads."

"Well, okay," said Stillman. "Just remember this is our case, not yours any longer. Will takes the lead and you just back him up, is that understood?"

"Completely, John," said Collins. "I just want to get something so I can nail Pettigrew for the murders. I appreciate the help. Can I leave my briefcase here? It's got all my info from the previous investigation in it. I wouldn't want anything to happen to it."

"Just leave it in my office," said Stillman. "It'll be safe enough in there."

"Well, Pettigrew's PO said he's willing to let us tag along while he makes a surprise home inspection," said Nick, hanging up the phone. "He said he'd meet us there at 2:00."

"Fine," said Stillman. "When Rush is done let her know. And let me know what you find out."

"Sure thing, boss," said Nick.

"Come on, Collins," said Will. "Let's go have a chat with Jackson."

"What happened?" Nick asked when Lilly had finished talking with Cooper.

"I was able to convince him to drop the charges against Pepper," she said. "He seemed to be having second thoughts about it anyway. When I told him how she had helped us out he said it was least he could do."

"Great. We're going by Pettigrew's at 2:00. His PO is going to meet us there. Said we can tag along for his unannounced home inspection."

"Let's run by and let Pepper know the good news," said Lilly. "When we finish there we can head out to Pettigrew's. You have the address?"

"Right here," said Nick, holding up his notebook. "Collins gave it to me before he left."

Lilly grabbed her coat and together they headed for the car.


	5. Chapter 5

FIVE

"Hello, Christopher," said Collins as he and Will entered the bar. "Long time no see."

"Well, well, Detective Collins," replied the man behind the bar. "It's been what, 6 years? Ever since you tried to get me to turn on Jason. Nothing's changed. I'll give you the same answer now as I did then. You're just wasting your time. Who might you be?"

"Detective Jefferies, homicide. I'd like to ask you a few questions if you don't mind."

"About Jason Pettigrew, no doubt."

"What makes you say that?" Will asked.

"You're with him," said Jackson, indicating Collins. "He's been after Jason for 6 years. Only stands to reason that if you're with him it must be about Jason."

"When did you last see Pettigrew?" Will asked.

"Last night. Same as nearly every night. Got here around 11:10 and stayed until nearly 12:30. And just for the record, I only serve him club soda. He said he couldn't drink while he's on parole so all I serve him is club soda."

"You're sure about the time?" Will asked.

"Absolutely. He comes in about the same time every night. Oh, it might have been 11:15. But no later."

"And about the time he left?" Will asked.

"New program I watch on television every night," said Jackson, indicating the television over the bar. "It's on from 12:00 until 12:30 every week night. It was just signing off when Jason decided to head on home. I told him good night and he left."

"Still sticking to the same old story, huh, Christopher?" Collins questioned.

"Yeah. Because it's the truth. Look, 6 years ago this guy comes in here asking these same types of questions. Even made some threats about closing me down if I didn't say that Jason hadn't been here. But nothing's changed. Jason usually comes in sometime between 10:30 and 11:00. He stays until 12:30 or 1:00, and then he goes home. It's the same answer I gave him six years ago and it hasn't changed. I even gave him a written statement to that effect. So why don't you just leave me and Jason alone. He's not the killer you're looking for."

"We're just following up some leads, that's all," said Will. "Another girl was killed and we just needed to verify Pettigrew's alibi."

"Yeah, I saw that on the news. But I'm telling you it's not Jason. Jason wouldn't kill anyone. He's too busy working. He's always been that way."

"You went to college with him, right?" Will asked.

"Yeah, we met in college. He wanted to be a stock broker and I wanted to have my own bar. Well, we both got what we wanted. But you'll never convince me that he's some deranged serial killer. Or that he hires hookers. He just ain't the type."

"He's admitted to hiring a prostitute at least once," said Will. "If he'll do it once he'll probably do it more than once."

"Maybe. But if I know Jason – and I do – he probably only did it the one time. Like I said, he's usually too busy working. He stops in here for a couple of drinks to unwind and then he goes home. And I'm telling you he was in here when those girls were killed. So why don't you go look for the guy who really killed those girls and leave poor Jason alone. Hasn't he been through enough all ready?"

"Can anyone else vouch for his being here last night?" Will asked.

"Sure. A couple of regulars. I can give you their names. And if you want the names of others who can vouch that he was in here in 1997 you can get them from the statement I gave to Collins here. I assume you still have the statement."

"Oh, absolutely," said Collins. "And once I prove that Pettigrew killed those girls, I'll be coming back here for you. For perjury, aiding and abetting, maybe even being an accessory."

"Can't prove what isn't true," said Jackson.

"Just give me the names and addresses," said Will. "I'll need them to corroborate your story."

"Sure thing, detective," said Jackson. "I'm more than willing to aid the police in any way I can." He glanced over at Collins. "Provided it's not a witch hunt."

Will just waited as Jackson wrote down the names of the people who could verify that Pettigrew had been in the bar the night of the murder.

* * *

"I don't know what you expect to find," said the parole officer when he met Lilly and Nick at Pettigrew's house. "He's one of my golden boys."

"Golden boys?" Nick questioned.

"That's what I call them," said the PO. "Makes every one of his meetings on time every week, adheres to the letter of his parole agreement, and has always been completely honest when answering my questions: not a bit of trouble out of him. He certainly makes my job a lot easier."

"Is that why you let him go to a bar?" Lilly asked. "We understand part of his parole agreement was no alcohol."

"And as far as I can tell he's abided by that. He's passed every drug test I've given him, even the surprise ones. I've even spoken with the owner of the bar he goes to. He's assured me that the only thing Jason has to drink while he's there is club soda. And I have no reason to doubt that. As long as he sticks to the rules I've got no beef with him."

"What about getting a warrant to search his place?" Nick asked. "Could you arrange that?"

"If I had reason to believe he's been involved in some illegal activity, I don't need a warrant. But like I said, he's given me no reason to suspect that he might be doing anything wrong. If I thought he was I'd violate him and send him back to prison in a heartbeat. So far I've had no reason to suspect him of anything."

"Well, we appreciate you letting us tag along," said Lilly. "It could be a big help to us in our current investigation."

"I think you might be barking up the wrong tree here. He's doing everything he can to not get sent back to prison. I can't imagine he'd jeopardize that by killing prostitutes."

"Serial killers can be very elusive," said Lilly. "They can appear to be just like anyone else. Just look at Ted Bundy or John Wayne Gacy. They were able to fool everyone."

"Point taken, detective. Well, this shouldn't take long. The last time I was here I didn't find anything. And like I said, Jason is one of my better parolees."

Together the three walked up to the front door of the house. It was a modest house similar to many middle-income houses that could be found all over Philadelphia. The PO knocked on the door and after a few minutes a well dressed woman in her mid-40s answered.

"Hello, Mrs. Pettigrew," said the PO. "It's good to see you again."

"Mr. Lawson. What are you doing here? Jason is at work right now."

"I know that. This is just an unannounced home inspection. I did explain to you when Jason got out of prison I'd be dropping by from time to time."

"Oh, I know that. I just never expected you again so soon. The last time you said you didn't feel you'd have to come by that often."

"Well, I have to verify that I'm doing home inspections to my boss. This is just a formality. It's shouldn't take very long. May we come in?"

"As I understand it I don't have a choice," said Felicia, eyeing the two detectives suspiciously. "You said the terms of Jason's parole allow you to come in whenever you want."

"That's true. I'm still asking permission."

"I suppose it will be okay. Who are your friends?"

"These are Detective Rush and Detective Vera of the Philadelphia police department. They're here as a formality."

"Well, as you can see not much has changed," said Pettigrew, showing the three into the living room of the house. "I still don't keep any alcohol in the house. You can check the kitchen if you want. And Jason hasn't been doing anything that violates his parole."

"I don't doubt it a bit," said Lawson. "The detectives would like to ask you a couple of questions if you don't mind."

"What about?"

"About your husband, Jason," said Lilly. "Can you tell us what time he got home two nights ago?"

"A little after one. After work he usually stops by Chris's for a drink and to unwind. Then he comes home."

"Was there anything unusual about his behavior?" Lilly asked. "Did he appear nervous or upset about anything?"

"Not really. No more than usual. Sometimes work can get to him. Work can get to a lot of people. But he didn't seem any different from any other night he came home from work."

"What about your husband's car?" Nick asked. "Did he clean it out that night or the next day?"

"No," said Pettigrew. "As a rule Jason doesn't clean his own car. We have a place we take our cars to have them detailed every few weeks. I had both cars detailed just before Jason got out of prison. What's this all about? Why all the questions about Jason and his car?"

"A prostitute was murdered 2 nights ago," said Lilly. "We're just tracking down some leads, that's all."

"By accusing my husband of murder?" questioned Pettigrew. "Just like Detective Collins did 6 years ago? I'll tell you now like I told him then. Jason hasn't killed anyone. Not 2 nights ago and not 6 years ago. I know his car was seen in that area but it's the area he drives through between the house and where he works. That's all it is."

"Mr. Pettigrew," said Lilly, "we're just trying to get at the truth. And to eliminate Jason as a suspect if we can. We're just trying to find whoever is killing these girls."

"I'm surprised you're even concerned," said Pettigrew. "They're just hookers. Guilty of all sorts of things. Why bother? Just a few less undesirables leeching off society."

"No one has the right to murder them," said Nick. "No matter how undesirable they may be."

"Well, that person wasn't Jason. He's a kind, caring man. He's never done anything wrong in his entire life."

"He was in prison for vehicular homicide," Lawson interjected.

"That was an accident. He didn't mean to kill that woman. And he paid for his mistake."

"He admitted to us he hired a prostitute once," said Lilly.

"Yes," said Pettigrew hanging her head. "He's not proud of it. And I was very angry when I found out. But we eventually worked things out. It happened one time and he promised me it would never happen again. And it hasn't."

"You're sure of that?" Nick questioned standing next to the fireplace. "He works late. He gets home late. How can you be so sure he's not seeing any?"

"He calls me just before he leaves work. He stops by Chris's for a couple of hours and then he comes home. And I trust him. He said he wouldn't do it anymore and I believe him. Marriage is based on trust."

"Are you sick, Mrs. Pettigrew?" Nick asked, picking up a bottle of pills from the fireplace mantle.

"Not really. Those are for a skin condition I have. It's not serious but it can be quite uncomfortable. That medication helps control it."

"Oh, okay," said Nick. He put the bottle back on the mantle.

"Back in '97," Lilly continued, "did your husband ever act strange or unusual?"

"Not that I recall," said Pettigrew, her patience obviously wearing thin. "Jason has a set routine. He likes it that way and so do I. Believe me, if I thought my husband was a serial killer I'd be the first to say so. But I've always maintained Jason's innocence."

"Your husband claims he got a ticket on July 11," said Lilly. "At almost the exact time the fifth victim was murdered. Only we can't find any record of him getting a ticket then. Did he ever mention getting a ticket to you?"

"No, he never mentioned ever getting any ticket," said Pettigrew. She was beginning to get agitated. "That would have been about 10 days before the accident that sent him to prison. I'm sure if he had gotten a ticket he would have mentioned it by then. Look, I gave Detective Collins a written statement 6 years ago. Everything I have to say is in that statement. Now, if there's nothing else, I do have things I need to do."

"I appreciate your time," Lawson said. "We can see out way out."

"You cut that off pretty quick," said Lilly as they walked to their cars. "It's possible she may have some information she's not telling us."

"She was getting upset," said Lawson. "I've learned from experience that when she gets upset she gets very antagonistic. Especially where her husband is concerned. I cut the interview short because if she had gotten antagonistic she would have become confrontational and you'd have gotten no information from her then."

"Okay, I guess I can understand that," said Lilly. "I noticed there was some baseball memorabilia sitting around his house."

"Yes," said Lawson. "I understand he played some ball when he was younger but he doesn't have much time for it these days. I do know he likes to spend Sundays at home watching ball games."

"It's hardly conclusive but none of the murders were committed on a Sunday," said Nick. "And the coroner theorized that the murder weapon was a baseball bat. A murder weapon that has never been recovered."

"You're right," said Lilly. "That's hardly conclusive. Not to mention that Jason Pettigrew lied to us. There's no record of him getting a ticket when he claims he did."

"Maybe we should bring Mr. Pettigrew in for another conversation," said Nick. "Find out why he lied to us."

"I'll call Stillman," said Lilly. "We can interview Pettigrew first thing in the morning."

"If there's anything else I can do to help please don't hesitate to call," said Lawson.

"A search warrant to check his car would be nice," said Nick.

"As I've all ready explained, I would need some reason to suspect that he's committed a crime," said Lawson. "So far all you've given me are supposition and gut instinct. No judge is going to grant a warrant on that."

"Didn't you say you didn't need a warrant to search his home, car, that sort of thing?" Nick asked.

"Search, yes," said Lawson. "But what you want to do is do a forensic check of the car. Sorry, can't help you there. Bring me something concrete and I'll see what I can do. Until then I'm afraid my hands are tied."

"It was just a thought," said Nick.

"Thanks for the help," said Lilly. "We'll let you know if we need anything else."


	6. Chapter 6

SIX

"You didn't bring your lawyer with you," Lilly said the next morning in the interrogation room. "I would have thought someone like you would want their lawyer here to make sure all of your rights were observed."

"I was told you just had a couple of questions for me," said Pettigrew. "That I wasn't under arrest. And I know I don't have to answer any of your questions."

"Very understandable of you," said Nick. "Does that mean you're going to plead the 5th on every question we ask you?"

"Not at all. I haven't done anything wrong. What is this all about?"

"Why did you lie to us yesterday?" Lilly asked.

"What are you talking about? I never lied to you. I answered all of your questions honestly. My parole officer said I needed to be honest to make sure I didn't violate my parole."

"You failed to mention your interest in baseball," said Nick.

"What's that got to do with anything? A lot of people like baseball."

"Except the victims in this case were all killed with a bat," said Lilly. "Pretty good motive to hide your interest in baseball. Kind of looks incriminating for you."

"Like I said, lots of people like baseball. Not to mention you can buy a bat at any hardware or sports store in the city. I don't see why that has any bearing on anything."

"You also left out something about the time you hired a prostitute," said Nick. "Your wife is taking acyclovir. Usually sold under the brand name Zovinax. And I checked. You're taking the same medication."

"Yeah, so?"

"So, acyclovir is a medication for genital herpes," said Lilly. "And according to the records you started taking it about 7 years ago. About the same time you said you hired the prostitute when your wife was out of town. The prostitute gave you herpes and you gave it to your wife, didn't you?"

"Yeah, okay. That happened. That's how Felicia found out I had hired a hooker. And like I said, she was very angry about it. But we worked through it, she forgave me, and we moved on. Not the first time something like that has happened."

"You hired a prostitute and she gave you a sexually transmitted disease," said Lilly. "An incurable one. Which you subsequently gave to your wife. That must have made you pretty mad."

"I know it would have pissed me off," said Nick. "But then, I don't pay prostitutes for sex."

"Yeah, I was mad. But I told you, I never saw that girl again. And I decided never to hire a prostitute again after that. I was afraid the next one might give me something a little more deadly than herpes. Herpes isn't fatal. It can be uncomfortable but it's not lethal. I decided I had dodged the bullet, so to speak, the first time. I didn't want to push my luck."

"There's also the matter of the ticket you claimed to have gotten on July 11," said Lilly.

"I told you about that. I ran a red light and a cop pulled me over and ticketed me for it. A couple of weeks later I hit the woman while I was under the influence and wound up going to prison. Under the circumstances, a traffic ticket wasn't foremost on my mind."

"Only we checked," said Nick. "There was no ticket issued to you that night. Or any other night. So why would you lie about something so easy for us to check on?"

"I did get a ticket that night," said Jason, reaching for his wallet. He pulled a piece of paper out of the wallet and handed it to Nick. "Look. Here's the copy the officer gave me. I found it last night in the suit I was wearing that night. After he gave me the ticket I stuck it in my pocket and forgot about it. After you asked me about it yesterday I thought maybe I should keep it with me. But that proves I got a ticket that night."

"It does look like a ticket," said Nick. "Issued by an Officer Caleb Barton at 10:17 p.m. on July 11, 1997. I'll check it out."

"That still doesn't explain why you lied to me about your affair with the prostitute," said Lilly as Nick left the room.

"I didn't lie to you," said Pettigrew. "I just didn't tell you everything. I didn't think it made any difference. And it wasn't an affair. It was a single time. It's never happened again. I never lied about that."

"Still," said Lilly, "you hire a hooker who gives you an incurable disease. Sounds like good motive to me. Maybe you blamed all prostitutes for what happened to you. Giving you a disease, nearly destroying your marriage. Maybe you decided to punish them all. Because you considered all of them guilty for what happened to you."

"No, it's not like that. I fully accept my responsibility for what happened. I knew the risks. I simply ignored them. And I paid the price for it. But like I said, it was just the one time and I haven't done it again."

"Doesn't look that way to me."

"I think I'm through answering questions now. I think I'd like to leave now."

"We're not finished here yet."

"In that case I think I want my lawyer. And I know my rights. If I ask for a lawyer you have to provide one." He pulled a card out of his wallet. "This is his number. And you can't question me until he gets here. I'm through answering any of your questions until he gets here."

"Sit tight," said Lilly, picking up the card. "I'll be back."

"Well, he lawyered up," said Stillman watching from the observation room. "That cuts it. We're not going to get anymore out of him now."

"We got something," said Collins. "He admitted to hiring a prostitute. And she gave him an STD which he consequently gave to his wife. That provides motive for the prostitute slayings. It's more than I had before. We didn't know any of that 6 years ago."

"It also doesn't give us enough for a warrant," said Stillman. "And from what Lilly said Pettigrew's Parole Officer isn't going to be of any help in that respect."

"It does give me a new direction," said Collins. "If the prostitute that gave him herpes went to a clinic, there will be a record of it. If I can find out which one it is maybe I can link him to the murdered ones, too."

"That's a lot of ifs," said Stillman.

"So much for that interrogation," said Lilly, walking into the observation room. "You heard?"

"Yeah," said Stillman. "Once his lawyer gets here I doubt we'll get anything else out of him. What's taking Nick so long? He should have been back from checking on that ticket by now."

"Well, it did look like an authentic ticket," said Lilly.

"Which can be reproduced on a home computer if you know what you're doing and have the right software," said Collins. "It's just seems convenient he suddenly finds his copy of the ticket after we talked to him about it. A ticket that's not in our system."

"Well, if that is a legitimate ticket, why isn't it in the system?" Stillman asked.

"I can answer that," said Nick, coming in the room. "Officer Caleb Jackson was murdered on July 12, 1995."

"The day after the prostitute was murdered," said Lilly.

"Actually, the same night," said Nick. "He responded to a burglary call about 1:45 a.m. And got two bullets in the chest for his trouble. The case was never solved. But for some reason there are no records for any tickets he issued that night in the system. Somehow any tickets he wrote that night never made it in to the system."

"How is that possible?" Collins asked. "Even if he was murdered they would have taken his ticket book and input the tickets he had written into the system. Why didn't his tickets get put into the system?"

"Because his ticket book was misplaced," said Will, coming into the room. He had a police officers' ticket book in his hand. "I remember when Officer Barton was killed. The entire force went on alert to try and find his killer. The case went cold real fast. No sustainable leads. Most of the effort was put into finding his killer. So I played a hunch. I checked his box in the archives. Found his ticket book in the box."

"Maybe whoever collected the evidence thought it would be useful," said Lilly. "Or that since it was on him when he died that it should go into the box."

"Or it was simply an error made due to the confusion of the situation," said Stillman. "At any rate we may never know why or how his ticket book ended up in the box."

"Except that Pettigrew is right," said Will, holding up the book, opened to a specific page. "Officer Barton did write a ticket for him at 10:17 on July 11, 1997. Here's the original."

"Okay," said Lilly. "Say Barton pulls them over at 10:10. It takes about 7 minutes to run Pettigrew's license and actually write the ticket. Another couple of minutes to have Pettigrew sign the ticket, return his license and proof of insurance, and explain the ticket to him. That makes it about 10:20."

"Pettigrew said he was there between 10:10 and 10:25," said Nick. "Just about the same length of time it would have taken to write the ticket."

"Which means Pettigrew would have had to pick up Cookie at 10:00 p.m., drive to the alley where she was found, murder her, and get to where he was ticketed within 10 minutes," said Lilly. "Considering how far apart the two locations are Pettigrew couldn't have been the one to kill Cookie on July 11th."

"Not to mention he would have been covered in blood," said Stillman. "The coroner said that whoever bludgeoned the prostitutes to death would have been covered in their blood. It would have taken several minutes at least to change clothes and clean off the blood spatter. Not to mention there would have been transfer from the killer's clothes to the car. It appears that Pettigrew is in the clear for the fifth murder."

"And since we've all ready established that the killer was the same person for each of the murders," said Lilly, "it means he didn't kill the others either."

"This is incredible," said Collins. "I was sure Pettigrew was our guy. Everything fit."

"Can't argue with the evidence," said Nick. "The time frame doesn't work. Looks like we'll have to cut him loose."

"This is just great," said Collins. "My only other leads have all been discounted."

"Mrs. Pettigrew said that she gave you a written statement back in '97," said Lilly.

"Yeah. I got written statements from everyone. I fully planned to use one of them to discredit Pettigrew but I could never find a chink in the armor. None of them went anywhere."

"Why don't we go over those statements again?" Lilly suggested. "You were looking at the statements with Pettigrew as a suspect. Maybe something in them will give us a new direction now that we know Pettigrew isn't our guy."

"They're in my briefcase," said Collins. "I'll go get them. I still can't believe I was so wrong about him. I was convinced he was the killer."

"We've all been there, Jerry," said Stillman. "Being convinced we had the right guy and then finding out it wasn't. Don't beat yourself up over it."

"I'll go let Pettigrew know he's free to go," said Lilly. "Then we can go see about getting a new direction in the case."


	7. Chapter 7

SEVEN

Jason and Felicia Pettigrew were sitting in the interrogation room on opposite sides of the table. Sitting next to Jason was Carl Fleming, his lawyer. Lilly had kept them waiting nearly 10 minutes. She knew she couldn't keep them waiting long. Eventually they lawyer would have them all leave. Dealing with lawyers was more difficult than simply dealing with a suspect. Eventually Lilly, Nick, and Detective Collins entered the room.

"What's the meaning of this?" the lawyer demanded. "What are we doing here?"

"Just trying to clear up a few things," said Lilly. "About the murder of 6 prostitutes."

"That's what this is about?" said the lawyer. "That's it. Your department was told not to harass my client any longer until you had some concrete evidence. So far I haven't seen even a shred of evidence."

"Things change," said Nick. "We just got a report back. It seems we found traces of blood in your car. Blood that we've been able to match to Constance Sullivan and Margaret Jennings. Two of the prostitutes that were murdered in 1997."

"That's impossible," said Jason.

"Jason, be quiet," said Fleming. "I'll handle this."

"We also found some strands of hair," said Lilly. "The follicles are a perfect DNA match to Jennifer Bryant, the prostitute that was murdered just the other day. So it seems we have enough evidence to charge you with the murder of all 6 girls."

"Excuse me," said Fleming. "There's a small matter of how you collected the evidence. You need a warrant to search my client's car."

"We have one," said Collins, laying a warrant on the table. "The judge issued it this morning."

"And your probably cause?" questioned Fleming. "What probably cause did you have to get the warrant?"

"We recanvased the area where the girls were found," said Lilly. "We found two girls still there that remembered what happened back then. They positively identified Jason's car as the last one the murdered victims got in just before they disappeared."

"Six counts of premeditated murder," said Collins. "I got you, Pettigrew. I swore I would one day and now I've got you. You're getting a needle for this."

"Jason, what are they saying?" Felicia asked. "You murdered those women?"

"No, Felicia, I didn't," Jason protested.

"Jason, be quiet," Fleming persisted. "Don't say another word."

"It really doesn't matter," said Collins. "We have enough to convict you without your saying a word. Means, opportunity, motive, and enough forensic evidence to put you on death row."

"I didn't kill anyone," Jason protested. "It wasn't me."

"Jason, shut up," Fleming insisted.

"No, no," said Jason. "I don't know what you think you found in my car but I never picked those girls up. And I certainly didn't kill any of them. I have an alibi. Chris can tell you. I was in his bar when those girls were killed. I couldn't have killed them."

"Jason, how could you?" Felicia asked, nearly on the verge of tears. "I trusted you. I stood by you even after you went to prison. How could you have killed all those innocent girls?"

"Innocent?" Lilly asked. "You said they were guilty of all sorts of things? You described them as undesirables leeching off society? Why should you even care that they're dead?"

"That was just a figure of speech," said Felicia. "Of course they didn't deserve to be murdered. And to think I've been living with a murderer all these years."

"We even found this," said Lilly, pulling a baseball bat out of a bag lying on the floor. "We found this in your house. See those stains on it? Those stains are blood. We've found three separate blood types on it. And I'm sure once we get it tested it will show that blood to belong to three of the girls that were murdered."

"This is a frame," said Jason. "I've never seen any of this. And I have no idea how those girl's blood got in my car."

"I can't believe I was fooled by you," said Felicia, looking at Jason. "I stood up for you. Now to find you're a murderer. I hardly know what to think."

"You didn't know about the bat?" Lilly asked Felicia.

"I knew he had one," said Felicia. "He usually kept it in the garage. In the overhead rack where you found it. He had gotten it online. Said it belonged to some big name ball player. I'd forgotten it was there."

Lilly just nodded toward the mirror in the room.

"Is that so?" Lilly asked. "You're sure you didn't remember it was there?"

"No, of course not," said Felicia. "I have no interest in baseball. That's Jason's interest."

"Just one more thing to incriminate him with, huh?" Nick questioned.

"I don't know what you're talking about," said Felicia.

"Oh, come on, Felicia," said Lilly. "Sure you do. You know exactly what we're talking about. This bat? I bought it at a sporting goods store this morning. And the stains? Something the guys in forensics came up with. Very realistic. I'm not sure what it is but it fooled me. I thought it was blood."

"What are you talking about?" Felicia asked.

"Well we weren't sure where you put the weapon you used," said Collins. "Even though we had a warrant to search your house there's no guarantee it was there. We had to find out what you did with it. And thanks to you, we now know."

"That's ridiculous," said Felicia. "I told you, the bat is Jason's. I never handled it."

"Interesting note there," said Lilly. "You may have wiped your prints off the bat. But we're willing to bet you didn't do much more than that. You wouldn't want to risk wiping off the blood evidence you wanted to frame your husband for the murders."

"And since you didn't clean the blood evidence off," said Nick, "your epithelios are probably still on it."

"Epi-what?" questioned Felicia.

"Skin cells," said Jason. "A lot of guys in prison talked about that. Every time we touch something we leave skin cells on it. A lot of them were convicted because their skin cells were found where they shouldn't have been."

"He's right," said Lilly. "Once we find your skin cells on that bat it's all we'll need to prove you killed those girls, not Jason."

"Felicia, what are they talking about?" Jason asked.

"I have no idea," said the woman.

"Oh, I think you do," said Lilly. "Pepper: the girl we talked to? The one who watched her friend get in the car with you the other day? She said Cookie got into a car with tinted windows. Jason's car doesn't have tinted windows. Yours does."

"That doesn't prove anything."

"After you parked your car and came up here," Collins said to Felicia, "our crime scene unit had it towed to their lab." He laid another piece of paper on the table. "Don't worry. We have a warrant for it, too. After you murdered those women you had to get out of there as quickly as you could. You couldn't risk someone seeing you there. The problem is you couldn't risk taking the time to change out of the clothes you were wearing. The ones that would have been covered in blood."

"You couldn't have prevented transferring some of the blood to your car," said Lilly. "And no matter how well you had it cleaned you couldn't have gotten all of the blood out. Even after you cleaned off all the blood you could see it's still possible to raise it with Luminal. Even after all these years there will still be trace evidence of it in your car. And after you murdered that girl the other day I'll bet we'll find more than a trace."

"You incompetent bastard," Felicia said suddenly, looking at Collins. "If you had only done your job in the first place none of this would be happening now. I left you plenty of clues. All you had to do was arrest Jason and you would have found all the evidence you needed to put him away. But because of your incompetence you've ruined everything."

"What are you talking about?" Jason asked.

"You," Felicia spat out with contempt. "You couldn't keep your pants zipped and because of it you ruined my life. You had to punish me for your weakness."

"The herpes," said Lilly.

"Of course the herpes," said Felicia. "It's incurable. He gave it to me. Now I have to live with it the rest of my life. What man is going to want me now?"

"We talked about this," said an incredulous Jason. "You forgave me. I promised never to cheat on you again and I haven't."

"Forgive you?" Felicia questioned. "You betrayed me. Cheated on. And with a common whore. Then you gave me herpes on top of it all. Forgive you? I despise you. You're not a man. You're a pathetic worm. You aren't worth forgiveness. You should have gone to prison for what you did to me."

"And that's why you tried to frame him?" said Collins. "To punish him for what he did?"

"Of course," said Felicia. "It took me a while to come up with just the right punishment for him. Then it finally hit me. He gave me a life sentence. I just returned the favor."

* * *

July 11, 1997, 11:04 p.m.

Felicia Pettigrew pulled up to the stoplight and looked around. Girls were standing on the street obviously waiting for something. It wasn't hard to guess what they were waiting for. Other cars drove down the street, occasionally stopping to talk to one of the girls.

She adjusted the shirt and tie she was wearing. Jason's suit was somewhat big on her. But it was necessary. If her plan to show that Jason was the one killing the prostitutes was to be believable, his clothes with the girl's blood on them would be necessary. She looked around and saw a two young woman standing on the street just ahead talking. It should be an easy matter to lure her into the car. Felicia pulled up just past the girls and stopped the car. Then she reached over and opened the passenger door.

The two women looked at her car and spoke for a moment. Then one of them turned and headed for her car. She walked to the car and climbed in the passenger side. She looked at Felicia and a look of surprised crossed her face.

"Well this is different," said the woman.

"Is it a problem?" Felicia asked smiling coyly.

"Naw, not really. It's just so rare that a woman is stopping for one of us. And wearing a suit no less."

"Just part of being camouflaged, you might say. I'm afraid my predilection for women wouldn't be understood by my family."

"Doesn't matter to me. Your money's as good as anyone else's."

"Close the door," said Felicia, putting the car in gear. "I have a small room nearby. If that's okay."

"Fine with me," said the woman. "I'm Cookie by the way."

"Felicia. It's not far. You should be back here in a very short time."

Felicia drove a couple of blocks to an alley. She turned down the alley and drove nearly halfway before stopping. She took a key out of her pocket and handed it to Cookie.

"Would you get the lock?" Felicia asked Cookie. "I always have trouble opening it for some reason."

"Sure, honey. My pleasure."

"Thanks. I just need to get my regular clothes out of the car to change into afterwards."

Cookie moved over to the door and tried to insert the key. But the key wouldn't fit. She turned the key over and tried it again but again it refused to slide into the lock.

"Are you sure this is the right key?" she asked, still trying the key. "It doesn't seem to fit."

Felicia reached into the back floor of the car and pulled out a ball bat. She turned and saw Cookie still trying to put the key into the lock. She looked around to make sure no one else was about. Without hesitation she raised the bat over her head and brought it down on Cookies head. The prostitute grabbed her head and fell to the ground. Felicia brought the bat up again striking Cookie again several times.

Felicia stopped attacking the woman and looked around. They were still alone in the alley. She looked down at the bloodied, mangled body of Cookie lying on the ground. There was no emotion in her. She had no emotion for a common whore that walked the streets. Just so much trash to be taken out.

She reached into the backseat of the car and pulled out a plastic bag. Carefully she placed the bat inside the bag. Then she took off the bloodied suit coat and placed it in the bag as well. The rest of her clothes were covered in blood but she couldn't risk changing out of them just now. Too much chance someone would come by and see her. She reached down and picked up the key she had given Cookie. She couldn't risk them tracing it back to her. Then she climbed in her car and drove out of the alley, heading for home.

She knew she would beat Jason home. She always planned very carefully to make sure he was busy at Chris's before she came out. Once home she would change and clean up and then wait for him; the dutiful wife waiting for her loving husband. Once he went to be she could put the next part of her plan into action.

With the suit coat in the plastic bag some of the blood would still be relatively fresh. All she had to do was squeeze out a few drops of blood into his car. Then, when the police checked his car, they'd find the blood. She'd hide the bat in the garage and bury the clothes in the backyard. The police would get a warrant to search the house and the grounds and when they found the incriminating evidence it would be enough to put Jason in prison for the rest of his life.

The plan was perfect. Six years ago she had done everything she could do except make an anonymous call to the police. Somehow they just never were able to connect Jason with the murders. This time it would be different. This time she'd be sure they caught him. Then he would pay for what he did to her.

She turned on the radio to listen to some music on the way home. It wouldn't be long now. It would all be over soon. And Jason would regret the day he ever had betrayed her.


	8. Chapter 8

EIGHT

"I don't believe it," said Jason as a female officer led Felicia away in handcuffs. "All these years I never suspected she hated me so much. For one indiscretion."

"You know what they say," said Stillman. "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. There's no telling how far a woman will go when she feels she's been betrayed."

"Just women, boss?" Lilly asked, smiling slightly.

"No, men, too," said Stillman.

"So this whole thing was a setup?" Fleming asked.

"Pretty much," said Nick. "Once we realized that Jason couldn't have killed Cookie we had to look someone else. Since he couldn't have killed Cookie he couldn't have killed the other girls, either."

"We just didn't realize we were looking for a woman," said Collins. "Most serial killers are men. It never occurred to me that the killer might be a woman. I was so centered on Jason I never considered anyone else." He extended his hand to Jason. "I wouldn't blame you if you knocked it away. But I'm sorry."

"Well," said Jason, taking the detective's hand, "you made my life a living hell for several weeks. But I suppose you were just doing your job. And you finally did prove I wasn't the killer. I guess that has to count for something."

"Thanks," said Collins. "I appreciate it."

"What made you suspect Felicia?" Jason asked.

"Her statement," said Will. "The one she gave to Detective Collins in 1997. We were going over the statements he had to see if there was anything that could help. That's when Lilly noticed a similarity between her handwriting and what was written on the bodies."

"Written on the bodies?" questioned Lawson. "I never knew there was anything written on the bodies."

"Oh, yeah," said Collins. "It was something we never released to the press." He reached down and pulled a picture out of a folder and handed it to Lawson. "There was one word written on the foreheads of the bodies. We kept it out of the news in order to weed out a true confession from any false ones."

"You recognized her handwriting from that one word?" Fleming asked.

"Not exactly," said Lilly. "Before I became a detective I worked in suspicious documents. Part of that involves analyzing handwriting samples. But I did notice a similarity between the word written on the dead women and her handwriting. So we sent it down to suspicious documents and they confirmed it was the same handwriting. That was enough for us to get a warrant for your house and cars."

"Is it really over?" Jason asked.

"As far as I'm concerned," said Collins. "I swore I'd get the person killing those girls. Thanks to John and his team I've been able to do just that. I don't know how to thank you."

"It was our pleasure," said Lilly. "It's what we do, after all."

"Good job on this one, people," said Stillman after Collins, Pettigrew, and Fleming had left.

"I didn't know if we were going to solve this one," said Nick. "The leads didn't seem to lead anywhere."

"Well, we've put another one to bed," said Stillman. "Lilly, why don't you and Nick make sure the boxes get put away in the archives? And don't forget to mark them 'Closed' when you do."

"Will do, boss," said Lilly. "Come on, Vera. Looks like we have the grunt duty this time."

"So what else is new?" Vera asked as he followed Lilly to the archives.

Stillman just smiled to himself as he headed for his office and the mountain of paperwork that was still awaiting his attention.

The End

If you've enjoyed this story, you can find more "Cold Case" stories at my website, Creative Passions, listed in my bio. You can also post your own "Cold Case" stories or other stories if you like to write fan fiction.


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